Publications by authors named "Sahar Ghasemi"

Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to evaluate how physical exercise affects glutamate levels in cerebrospinal fluid and pain in rats with neuropathic pain.
  • A total of 104 male rats were divided into four groups, with one group undergoing a chronic pain injury while some engaged in a daily swimming exercise routine for four weeks.
  • Results showed that exercise improved pain thresholds and reduced CSF glutamate levels in neuropathic rats, suggesting that regular physical activity can help manage pain in similar conditions.
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  • X-chromosomal genetic variants can provide important information about differences in human traits and diseases between sexes.
  • A large-scale study analyzed kidney-related traits in nearly 909,000 individuals, finding 23 genetic loci linked to uric acid levels and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), including four new genes that may play a role in kidney function.
  • The research also discovered five novel sex-specific interactions, with variations showing different effects in males and females, and highlighted genes that are responsive to androgens (male hormones), indicating a complex relationship between sex and kidney-related genetics.
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Exosomes, the naturally secreted nanocarriers of cells, have recently been demonstrated to have therapeutic benefits in a variety of disease models where parent cells are not present. However, the use of exosomes in bone defect regeneration has been unusual, and little is documented about the underlying processes. In recent study we produced and characterized exosomes derived human endometrial mesenchymal stem stromal cells and 58S bioactive glass scaffolds; in following, in this research exosome loaded scaffolds synthetized and release of exosome, porosity and bioactivity of them were assessed.

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  • Aerobic exercise, like swimming, can significantly improve somatosensory injuries and alleviate neuropathic pain, which is often a result of sciatic nerve damage.
  • In a study with 40 male rats, researchers divided them into different groups and induced neuropathy to test the effects of swimming exercise on pain response and myelin protein zero levels.
  • Results showed that swimming not only increased pain thresholds but also raised myelin protein levels, suggesting that this exercise could be beneficial for neuropathological disorders such as Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.
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A decreased estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) leading to chronic kidney disease is a significant public health problem. Kidney function is a heritable trait, and recent application of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) successfully identified multiple eGFR-associated genetic loci. To increase statistical power for detecting independent associations in GWAS loci, we improved our recently developed quasi-adaptive method estimating SNP-specific alpha levels for the conditional analysis, and applied it to the GWAS meta-analysis results of eGFR among 783,978 European-ancestry individuals.

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  • The study investigates the genetic factors contributing to the decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), a key indicator of kidney function, by analyzing data from 62 longitudinal studies involving over 343,000 participants.
  • Twelve significant genetic variants related to eGFR decline were identified, with most showing interaction effects based on age, which highlights how genetic influences on kidney function change as individuals get older.
  • The findings emphasize that individuals with certain genetic profiles face higher risks for kidney failure and acute kidney injury, providing valuable insights that could aid in drug development and strategies for managing kidney health.
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  • Reduced glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is a precursor to kidney failure, influenced by factors like genetics and diabetes (DM), but the interaction between these factors is not well understood.
  • A large-scale genome-wide association study (GWAS) analyzed eGFR across almost 1.5 million individuals, revealing distinct genetic loci that differ between those with and without diabetes.
  • The findings identified potential new targets for drug development aimed at protecting kidney function, highlighting that many drug interventions could be effective for both diabetic and non-diabetic populations.
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  • * A large study investigated blood-based DNA methylation patterns in relation to kidney function and found 69 DNA sites linked to estimated glomerular filtration rate and 7 to urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio, pointing to potential genetic markers for CKD.
  • * Further validation in kidney tissue highlighted specific genes associated with kidney function and suggested that certain DNA methylation changes could have causal effects, implicating pathways in blood cell migration and immune response related to kidney health.
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  • * The study identified 100 significant CpG sites that account for 11.6% of serum urate variance, particularly noting five CpGs associated with SLC2A9, a major gene influencing serum urate levels.
  • * Additionally, some of these CpGs also appear to mediate effects of genetic variants related to serum urate and are linked to metabolic syndrome, suggesting a potential blood DNA methylation signature for assessing cardiometabolic risk factors.
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Recent studies suggest that Spirulina may have great therapeutic benefits due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the chemopreventive properties of the Spirulina microalgae (Spi) on the regression and survival of tumor, histopathological features of glioblastoma, and detection of the molecular mechanism of Spi. Tumor viability versus Spi was determined using the MTT assay.

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  • The HERMES consortium is focused on understanding the genomic and molecular factors that contribute to heart failure by analyzing data from a large number of studies worldwide.
  • It includes 51 studies from 11 countries, gathering data from over 68,000 heart failure cases and nearly 950,000 controls, with broad demographic representation and long follow-up periods.
  • The main goals are to identify genetic risk factors for heart failure, explore causal pathways, and create tools to help stratify patients and predict risks based on their genetic information.
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Rationale & Objective: Stratification of chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients at risk for progressing to kidney failure requiring kidney replacement therapy (KFRT) is important for clinical decision-making and trial enrollment.

Study Design: Four independent prospective observational cohort studies.

Setting & Participants: The development cohort comprised 4,915 CKD patients, and 3 independent validation cohorts comprised a total of 3,063.

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  • Common carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) is an important indicator for early signs of heart disease and stroke, and this study involved analyzing data from 6,400 individuals to investigate its associations.
  • The research found a specific DNA methylation site (cg05575921) linked to cIMT, suggesting that smoking may influence cIMT and the risk of stroke through changes in this site.
  • Additionally, the study identified 34 areas of altered DNA methylation, with one region related to the ALOX12 gene showing a strong correlation to cIMT, indicating that DNA methylation could connect cardiovascular risk factors to disease outcomes.
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Motivation: Multiple independently associated SNPs within a linkage disequilibrium region are a common phenomenon. Conditional analysis has been successful in identifying secondary signals. While conditional association tests are limited to specific genomic regions, they are benchmarked with genome-wide scale criterion, a conservative strategy.

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  • * A genome-wide association study analyzed data from over 256,000 Europeans aged 60 and above, identifying 15 genetic loci linked to muscle weakness, 12 of which were previously unassociated with grip strength.
  • * The study suggests that muscle weakness may involve different biological mechanisms than continuous strength, implicating factors related to autoimmune diseases, arthritis, and aspects of the aging process.
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  • - The study investigates the genetic factors contributing to the rapid decline in glomerular filtration rate (eGFRcrea), using data from 42 genome-wide association studies to analyze genetic loci linked to this decline.
  • - Two specific definitions of rapid eGFRcrea decline are examined, leading to the identification of seven independent genetic variants associated with this condition, including significant findings near three novel loci.
  • - The research suggests that individuals with a higher genetic risk for kidney function decline are more likely to experience acute kidney injury, indicating that these identified genetic loci could help in developing targeted therapies and identifying at-risk individuals.
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Aim: Orofacial chronic neuropathic pain commonly occurs following trigeminal nerve injuries. We investigated whether swimming exercise can reduce trigeminal neuropathic pain through improving antioxidant capacity.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-eight Wistar rats of either sex and 180-220 grams were divided into 4 groups as sham, neuropathy, neuropathy + single bout exercise, and neuropathy + 2 weeks of exercise.

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Heart failure (HF) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. A small proportion of HF cases are attributable to monogenic cardiomyopathies and existing genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have yielded only limited insights, leaving the observed heritability of HF largely unexplained. We report results from a GWAS meta-analysis of HF comprising 47,309 cases and 930,014 controls.

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Elevated serum urate levels cause gout and correlate with cardiometabolic diseases via poorly understood mechanisms. We performed a trans-ancestry genome-wide association study of serum urate in 457,690 individuals, identifying 183 loci (147 previously unknown) that improve the prediction of gout in an independent cohort of 334,880 individuals. Serum urate showed significant genetic correlations with many cardiometabolic traits, with genetic causality analyses supporting a substantial role for pleiotropy.

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Background: Smart materials capable of responding to external stimuli are noteworthy candidates in designing drug delivery systems. In many of the recent research, temperature and pH have been recognized as the main stimulating factors in designing systems for anti-cancer drugs delivery systems.

Purpose: In this study, thermo and pH-responsive character of a nano-carrier drug delivery platform based on lysine modified poly (vinylcaprolactam) hydrogel conjugated with doxorubicin was assessed.

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Article Synopsis
  • Increased urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) is linked to higher risks of kidney disease and cardiovascular issues, yet the underlying causes are not fully understood.
  • A large meta-analysis identified 68 genetic loci associated with UACR, highlighting connections to conditions like proteinuria, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension.
  • Specific genes (such as TGFB1 and PRKCI) were implicated in kidney function, and experiments showed that disrupting these genes in fruit flies affects albumin processing, suggesting new avenues for research to lower albumin levels.
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Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is responsible for a public health burden with multi-systemic complications. Through trans-ancestry meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and independent replication (n = 1,046,070), we identified 264 associated loci (166 new). Of these, 147 were likely to be relevant for kidney function on the basis of associations with the alternative kidney function marker blood urea nitrogen (n = 416,178).

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Elevated serum urate levels can cause gout, an excruciating disease with suboptimal treatment. Previous GWAS identified common variants with modest effects on serum urate. Here we report large-scale whole-exome sequencing association studies of serum urate and kidney function among ≤19,517 European ancestry and African-American individuals.

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Mesoporous silica nanoparticles having structure of MCM-41 category with amine and EDTA functional groups in the pores were prepared using a co-condensation reaction. The synthetic steps eventuated in the mesoporous silica nanoparticles with spherical sizes lower than 50nm supposed to have high surface area. The nanoparticles' structure and functionality were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy and CHN analysis and the topography were examined by SEM and TEM and hydrodynamic sizes were demonstrated by DLS.

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